This video that ResponsibleSports.com, the Positive Coaching Alliance, and Liberty Mutual put together on developing parent/coach relationships is a pretty good overview of how to work with kids in youth sports.

Below is an excellent article written by Keith Andresen, Senior Director of Hockey Programs for the Dallas Stars Youth Program. While the article is intended for a hocky specific audience, it is clearly applicable to all audiences.

“Green” has become the catchword for any cause that helps our environment. Everyday people examine ways we can “green” our environment by conserving our natural resources and eliminating pollution through the use of “green” products such as hybrid cars. The hockey environment could use some “greening” as well. Our environment is the rink and I have noticed that our game is being polluted by poor attitudes and foul language at an alarming rate and it’s time we all take a step back to see what we can do to make our Hockey Environment “GREEN”.

Anyone who comes to the rink is part of the environment and that includes, players, coaches, officials, and fans. Each person brings an attitude to the rink, and that attitude will create his or her contribution to the environment. When that attitude is a combination of respect and tolerance the hockey environment is healthy and “green”. However when there’s a lack of tolerance and respect, the environment suffers.

Let’s start with the officials. There are good officials and bad officials and fortunately the vast majority are good. No official is perfect and, here’s a flash for you, they do make mistakes; however, I have never met an official that intentionally tries to make mistakes. That being said I have found that there are officials who feel it necessary to leave their imprint on each game they work. They come out onto the ice with a chip on their shoulder and they find it necessary to let everyone know that they are in charge without much regard for the game that is going on in front of them. I’m not sure what these guys are thinking but I suggest they take time out to smile and remember that they are not the game people came to see. These are the guys who refuse to talk to a coach or player, even when approached politely, to answer questions or discuss a call. These are the officials who need to figure out that they will call fewer penalties and receive far less criticism if they just lighten up and keep a polite and open attitude.

Some of you coaches need to look in the mirror as well. While officials make mistakes now and then, every call that goes against your team is not a reason to climb up on the bench and start yelling at the officials like they just cost you a chance for the Stanley Cup. I have seen mite squirt and peewee coaches this year yelling and screaming at teenage officials to the point where the officials were almost in tears. Players need to learn at a young age that life isn’t always fair and that sometimes, even when you do everything right, the breaks go against you. A coach who can deal with adversity and teach that lesson to his players is a coach that will have a team that can play through almost anything. If you have to talk to an official do it with respect. Don’t stand up on the bench or boards but down in the bench so you can look him in the eye. Call the official over quietly and you’ll find that he will be far more willing to listen to what you have to say. You may not change his mind but you will have shown the official that you’re a decent guy and you will probably get the benefit of the doubt on future calls. Read more of this post

There are so many different things that coaches look for in building a team. Player skill is just one thing and sometimes not even the most important. Coaches evaluate players on a variety of other criteria including:

Team Skills – Does the player grasp the way teams work together to win games?

Relative Physical Development – Is the player physically larger or small than his teammates?

Leadership – In tough game situations, could the player step up as a role model for teammates?

Listening – Does the player pay attention and understand things quickly?

Personality – Does the player’s personality fit with the other player’s selected?

Mentoring Ability – How much can the player positively impact others on the team?

Positional Knowledge – How much does the player know about the playing the variety of situations faced in regular game?

Unselfishness – Does the player make plays for the benefit of the team or build individual stats?

Level of Effort – How hard does a player work during tryouts?

Familiarity – Does the coach have experience working with the player?

Family Involvement – Does the coach have good or bad experience working with a player’s family?

Team Needs – How many players are needed for each position? Though last on the list, team needs are often the most important. Teams don’t need five skilled catchers. So even though a player may be a great catcher, the chances of making a team are greatly diminished if the coach prefers another player for that limited need.

While a tryout may look like a skills contest, coaches can observe these factors by the way the skills are carried out. Most coaches believe that skill deficits are much easier to correct than the issues listed above. Coaches will gamble with lesser skilled players that present the best overall package.

Good coaches can make skilled players but only the players themselves (with the help of their parents) can make skilled teammates.

According to a recent article in Wired Magazine, Peter Vint, a researcher with the US Olympic Committee believes that athletic skills can be learned even to the Wayne Gretzky level of performance. Such talent has long been assumed to be innate. “Coaches tend to think you either have it or you don’t,” Vint says. But Vint rejects the notion that Gretzky-style magic is unteachable.

One thing the article fails to mention but that further supports the argument for training to a Gretzky level of performance is Gretzky’s commitment to practice and his attitude towards it summed in these quotes:

“The only way a kid is going to practice is if it’s total fun for him… and it was for me.”

“I wasn’t naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that’s the way I’ll be as a coach.”

Parents and coaches work hard to keep their children and players safe and maximize everyone’s enjoyment from the sport. However, parents and coaches often have limited experience with youth sports participation. Though they may have once been players themselves, the skills to be a good player and the skills to be a good youth sports parent or coach are quite different. It is a little like saying that because you can bake cookies you can run a bakery. Playing is about technical skills where as parenting and coaching are about educational skills.

This skill deficit is then compounded by turnover. Just about the time parents or coaches get good at their respective roles, the kids grow up and a new group of parents and coaches starts the process all over — Not exactly a model for long term success. However, the business world provides a great role model for how to deal with these issues and run a successful youth sports organization – the franchise!

In a franchise system, a franchisor sets the standards and provides an operations manual that franchisees much follow exactly to make sure that their business succeeds. The operations manual has been perfected over many years and with the experience of many franchisees. Thus, the operations manual is a proven path to business success. New franchisees don’t have to reinvent the wheel. They immediately start their business with all the skills of long term participants. New McDonald’s run as smoothly as the oldest ones even though the manager and crew may have just started. Now, why not take this model to youth sports?

Creating a Youth Sports Franchise

Organized youth sports can do more than just setup game and practice schedules. It can also set the the right physical and behavioral standards that ensure that kids can enjoy sports over their entire childhood. These standards are not just codes of conduct. These standards are very detailed plans for behavior, instruction and participation.

Little League Baseball has implemented one step towards this with its new pitching standards policy which is shown below. Similar standards can be created in a variety of sports. Instead of taking away creativity or flexibility from coaches, these standards give coaches the benefit of years of participation and the input from medical experts. In order to improve, youth sports needs to implement more of these standards to help everyone achieve their goals – better kids playing longer and healthier.

Little League Baseball Pitching Standards The table below gives an overview of the number of pitches that will be allowed per day for each age group during the regular season in 2007.

League Age

Pitches allowed per day

17-18

105

13-16

95

11-12

85

10 and under

75

The rest periods required during the 2007 regular season are listed below.

Pitchers league ages 7 through 16 must adhere to the following rest requirements:

If a player pitches 61 or more pitches in a day, three (3) calendar days of rest must be observed.

If a player pitches 41 – 60 pitches in a day, two (2) calendar days of rest must be observed.

If a player pitches 21 – 40 pitches in a day, one (1) calendar day of rest must beobserved.

If a player pitches 1-20 pitches in a day, no calendar day of rest is required before pitching again.

Pitchers league age 17-18 must adhere to the following rest requirements:

If a player pitches 76 or more pitches in a day, three (3) calendar days of rest must be observed.

If a player pitches 51 – 75 pitches in a day, two (2) calendar days of rest must be observed.

If a player pitches 26 – 50 pitches in a day, one (1) calendar day of rest must beobserved.

If a player pitches 1-25 pitches in a day, no calendar day of rest is required before pitching again.